We Demand A Lot From Govt But Only 1% Of India’s Population Pay Taxes

How many times have we demanded our government to step up, intervene, spend, invest in a lot of issues we face daily. We have forgotten our government’s capabilities are limited to the money we pay to our government. The recent studies shows only one percent of India’s population pay tax. Such reports have been disclosed by the government for the assessment of the financial year 2012-13. A total of 2.87 crore individuals had filed their income tax returns for that year, which is less than 4 percent of the 760 million adults counted in 2011 census. 1.62 crore people out of this 2.87 crore did not pay any tax, leaving the number of taxpayers at just about 1.25 crore which was close to one percent of the country’s total population of about 123 crores at that time.

Taxes are primarily of two types:

Direct Taxes, as the name suggests, are taxes that are directly paid to the government by the taxpayer. It is a tax applied to individuals and organizations directly by the government e.g. income tax, corporation tax, wealth tax etc.

Indirect Taxes are applied to the manufacture or sale of goods and services. These are initially paid to the government by an intermediary, who then adds the amount of the tax paid to the value of the goods / services and passes on the total amount to the end user. Examples of these are sales tax, service tax, excise duty etc.

Due to the failure in bringing enough well-off Indians into the direct tax net, the country has been mobilising revenue through indirect tax collection. In 2015-16, direct taxes contributed only 51 per cent. What India needs is to broaden its tax base. India has only 15.5 per cent share of tax in its GDP. Whereas the leading countries have a much higher tax base, like in Italy the share is 28.7 per cent, in the UK it is 28.5 per cent, South Africa has 26.5 percent of tax in its share of GDP.

The Logical Indian requests the entire community to pay their tax. Our fight and dream for change start with us. The more people pay their taxes duly will naturally boost government’s capabilities to implement new initiatives and policies.

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An Army Colonel Is Changing Lives Of Thousand Of People From North-East Using White Bullets

Retiring after spending 32 years in the Indian Army, Col Chris Rego is helping change the destinies of hundreds of children in conflict-affected North East India through his “White Bullets” initiative. With this initiative, he hopes to bring peace and progress to communities across North East India.

Luminouswanted to bring out the Colonel’s story to the world to inspire and motivate others as it believes that education is a strong tool to empower women. It is supporting Col Rego’s cause through an initiative called #Luminaries – the brave people who stand up for causes like girl child education and make a difference in the society.

Col Rego’s journey started over a decade ago in Manipur when a tribal woman knocked on his door pleading for support for her daughter’s education. Touched by the woman’s story, Col Rego and his wife delved into their savings and arranged for the money for the girl’s education. Two years down the line, the woman returned, this time with a small pumpkin and a shawl that she had knitted, and all the money she had borrowed. Moved and realizing that their money could make lives rather than earn paltry interest, Col and Mrs. Rego embarked on a journey to arrange for sponsorship of many more underprivileged children.

Retiring from the Army, Col Rego took over as CEO of Sunbird Trust, a not-for-profit organization which he founded in 2014. The Trust now sponsor over 1,000 children in 21 locations acrossNorth East India. The centre of Sunbird Trust’s activities is at beautiful Ijeirong, Manipur.

Recognizing Col Chris’s immense work, Luminousacknowledged him as their first Luminary. Through this, they hope to bring more power to his elbow in the notable work he is doing. The Luminousteam travelled to remote Ijeirong village and installed solar products. These solar products will help in providing power to the entire campus 24/7 for the very first time.

The Logical Indian salutes Col Christopher Rego for his untiring efforts and leadership. His efforts are already having a cascading effect on people from across India joining the “White Bullets” endeavour. Quite amazingly, education, in itself so empowering, is merely a means to PEACE. We hope the path illuminated by #Luminary Col Rego and his Sunbird Trust team acts as a beacon for others to follow.

If you too have stories of change, share them with us. And if you want to connect with Colonel Rego, click here.